Shop Flooring
Giving a little bit of attention to the flooring in your shop can make your shop more inviting and more comfortable to work in. When’s the last time you took a good hard look at your shop floor? [...]
Replacing an old Hope Chest Lock – Part 3
After reducing the volume of the original half-mortise using two strips of wood and addressing the crack in the shallow recess of the catch plate (read part two of the story here), I decided to [...]
Hard-Line Dust Piping: Best Practices
Follow these best practices to get the most out of your dust collection system. I don’t think that there has been something that’s increased my enjoyment in the shop as much as getting a good [...]
Replacing an old Hope Chest Lock – Part 2
After fine-tuning the quirks with the new replacement lock and its brass catch plate, I turned my attention to the cedar hope chest’s half-mortise. I measured and compared the existing depth and [...]
Replacing an Old Hope Chest Lock, Part 1
Last winter, a friend gifted me an old cedar hope chest. The piece was made by her late father-in-law, an amateur woodworker. Since she and her husband were preparing to sell their home and move [...]
5 Ways to Make a Mortise
A hole is just a hole, no matter how you dig it. The mortise-and-tenon joint is fundamental in woodworking. Along with the dovetail, this joint has been used for thousands of years. If you judge [...]
8 Ways to Make Tenons
A quick guide to the pros and cons of how to make the difficult part of a classic joint. Many pieces of old handmade furniture owe their long life to mortise and tenon joints. There are many [...]
The How & Why of Cutlists
Why you’re better off to look this gift horse in the mouth. There is a trap lurking within the pages of our magazine. It is also in most woodworking magazines, and many books. It is called the [...]
How to Make Dovetailed Drawers
Fine furniture calls for an elegant drawer. A master cabinetmaker shares his approach to design and fitting. There are just a few things my partner at Philadelphia Furniture Workshops, Alan [...]
Restoring Broken Plastic Hardware Organizer Drawers
One staple you’ll likely find in most woodworking shops is a fasteners/hardware bin filled with small plastic drawers. These drawers hold everything from nails and screws to hinges and glue [...]
Nautilus Star Veneer Inlay
Creating a Nautilus Star Inlay is a great way to add detail to your woodworking projects, big and small. Online Extras: Download a PDF of the Nautilus Star layout instructions A nautilus star, [...]
Hanging a Hatchet Handle
Knowing how to hang a new handle on a hammer or an axe opens up numerous opportunities to restore your old tools and allows you to bring back to active duty eBay and flea market-bought heads of [...]
